The assessment of capillary blood flow is important for many medical procedures and conditions. Two optical coherent techniques, laser Doppler velocimetry and dynamic laser speckle, have been applied to measure blood flow velocities. The Laser Speckle Contrast Analysis method takes advantage of the advanced digital photography to extend the conventional laser speckle method to a nonscanning, full-field technique. The Phase I aim is to develop a laser speckle amplitude mapping technology for monitoring capillary blood flow velocity and demonstrate the accuracy of the technology at or better than that of the laser Doppler velocimetry. The goal of the project is to develop a low-cost device for quantitative monitoring of tissue perfusion. Phase I focuses on the feasibility demonstration to provide quantitative data on skin blood flow using animal models. A prototype will be developed in Phase II to use in a clinical study. The advantages of the proposed technique are faster, wider area coverage, simpler, noncontact, and better reproducibility. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: The optical device will provide easy and noncontact monitoring of tissue viability for patients during and after plastic and reconstructive surgery involving flaps and digit reattachment, and during trauma treatment procedures. Commercial application includes diagnosing the conditions of burn patients, the extremities of diabetic patients, and for patients with increased vascular density such as skin cancer.